Can the three service chiefs receive higher pay packets than the President of India?

Though officials are yet to calculate the final salary of the chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force, following the Sixth Pay Commission’s recommendation, the possibility of them getting a higher gross salary than that fixed for the supreme commander is very real.A few months back the salaries of the president, vice-president and governors were revised upwards. The president’s salary now stands at Rs 1 lakh. The Sixth Pay Commission has recommended that the three service chiefs should get a monthly fixed salary of Rs 90,000 and other allowances, including DA. The revised DA payable as per the recommendations could work out to approximately 14 per cent of the fixed salary. When this is added to the chiefs’ fixed salary, the final pay packet will cross the Rs 1 lakh mark.

A final call on the recommendation will have to be made by the government, though. Since the recommendations mean the three chiefs’ attracting higher salary than the supreme commander, the government may even be compelled to review the salaries of the president and vice-president and also that of the governors. The salary of the vice-president is Rs 85,000 per month which was increased only a few months back. Director General of the armed forces will get a fixed basic salary of Rs 80,000 per month.  “The military service pay (MSP) is there for many armed forces around the world. It is intended to compensate for the hard working conditions,” an army officer told Deccan Herald.